I’ve seen hundreds of bands in concert. When I was in college, I saw at least two shows a month for the better part of four and a half years. Point is, I have seen a lot of rock shows.
I was rendered completely speechless exactly once: Brainiac played a show in Cincinnati in 1995, and it completely changed the way I look at music. That’s not hyperbole at all. It was a stunning experience.
Brainiac combined new wave, punk, noise, and just plain chaos. The band’s guitarist once said he had so many effects pedals and sample triggers on stage, he never had any idea what would happen when he hit one of them. But the focus was always on the frontman, Tim Taylor, who was a ball of pure energy. I’d never seen anything like him. I still haven’t.
Anyway, for a good half-hour after the show, I couldn’t speak, other than to just say “wow” over and over.
About two years after that show, Brainiac was about to sign a big-money major label deal, they were in the studio recording their fourth album, and suddenly it all ended. The throttle on Tim’s new car stuck open and he slammed into a telephone pole. There was nothing he could do to stop the car, and he died instantly.
And that was the end of Brainiac.
Today’s MP3 is the last song on their last release, Electro-Shock For President. The song’s called “Mr. Fingers”, and before you listen to it, I will say in advance that Brainiac’s a band you either love or hate. There isn’t a whole lot of middle ground on these guys.
